A friend of mine recently went to his local garage, claimed he was a re-conditioned '79 Chevy Nova and asked them to do a timing check on the carburetor and rotate his tires. They said they wouldn't because he didn't have a carburetor, or tires, and they only worked on "cars." He is off now to the local human rights tribunal (after a stop for spare parts at Canadian Tire).

The strange, ominous and creepy case before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal is reverberating around the world. This is the case of the person, variously identified on the Internet as Jonathan or Jessica Yaniv, who has mounted a campaign to force unwilling cosmeticians to do a "Brazilian Wax" on their still very present testicles and penis. Yaniv has filed complaints against them all.

As I wrote last week, these are all women, some immigrants, and on the economic and cultural margins — 16 in total, according to most accounts. At least one, originally from Brazil, has had to close her small business. All have been under intense duress, and the vexatious complainant is notably hostile to immigrants (social media posts by Yaniv, then identifying as Jonathan, are remarkably insulting to newcomers to Canada). Some have paid Yaniv $2,500 dollars to lay off, while others equipped themselves with lawyers, at their own expense, had the complaints dropped.

It is a very disturbing case — and for more reasons than the harassment of these women. It raises questions not only about the human rights tribunal but about many of the main organs of Canadian journalism.

The latter first: The Times of London has a story on it, a popular Irish radio show talked to Yaniv (angry about the questions, Yaniv hung up, but only after telling the host she was capable of getting pregnant). A far continent away, The Australian gives a full account of the story. Hundreds of other serious and widely followed news sites and blogs in Canada, the U.S., and abroad have done the same.

This is not a local story. And when tweet-master Ricky Gervais fired off this projectile of compressed lucidity, the matter had the Twitter equivalent of an Apollo liftoff: "It is a woman's right to say 'I don't wax testicles. On a man or a woman.' End of discussion. No sexism. No homophobia. No transphobia." The world is listening to this squalid tale.

From my perspective the core of the story is not Yaniv, whom, from what I have read, presents as opportunistic, cruel and delusionally self-entitled, who manipulates the ever-changing fixations of identity and gender politics for (a) notoriety, (b) possible gain, and (c) some delight in pushing and insulting hard-up people, especially Asians and newcomers (see last week's column) as a very questionable personal amusement.

Where is this yarn — outside the National Post and Toronto Sun — in the large media of this country? CTV, CBC, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star? Silence. (The Post Millennial has covered the story, as has Blaire White, herself a transgender woman — she posted her work on YouTube.) Perhaps the TV networks have an excuse. After all you cannot expect to have a full seven hours live on the comatose Mueller hearings and cover the Trump presidency every 15 minutes, and still serve up a story of harassment of immigrants and very strange and creepy behaviour out of Vancouver. (Were Trump to tweet on the matter, of course, the panels would be endless, righteous outrage infinite.)

Is it not Canadian news that the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal is giving this apparently aggressive and eagerly litigious person such specialized and respectful attention? At the same time as 16 women are going through what must be to them a frightening, perplexing and tormenting legal grinder? Why are the Canadian media not at least reporting on what they are going through?

Is it simply because even the word "transgender" is kryptonite to the brave media who are always otherwise anxious to write and broadcast "truth to power"? The silent passing over of this story is journalistic cowardice, the fear of offending the passing pieties of militant progressivism.

As to the Tribunal, is it simply enough — see mocking epigraph above — for someone to walk into its offices, self-declare "I am a trans woman and I can't get my scrotum waxed," and have them take on the case? Is that truly all it takes?

Did the tribunal's members think maybe if 16 — 16! — women unanimously turned Yaniv down, the problem was more likely with the would-be customer, not the provider? Did they consider the upheaval in their lives as solemnly as they presided over this transparently noxious, trivial, illogical and indulgent complaint?

In my column last week, I lamented the Tribunal's lack of common sense. This week I ask where's their sense of human sympathy, compassion for the newcomer — and to use one of their most-beloved terms, for the marginalized? The woman from Brazil has lost her income while Yaniv enjoys the publicity.

People do not choose to wax other people's genitals for love of the craft. They are poor. They likely want to provide for their children so those children will never have to face the unpalatable chore of tending to other people's privates, male or female, privates. These selfless people, who condescend to this work are, properly considered, moral heroes. Parents who do what all great parents have done, work for the good of their children. But now they are "defendants" in a Canadian court, accused of being transphobic bigots.

Of Yaniv's other alleged activities, I will not disturb your stomachs with full recount. But if you can combine a fixation on tampons and very young girls, texting young girls with child pornography pictures, proposing all-nude swims for 12-year-olds and you can easily compose it for yourself.

There are people who might actually need the protection of a rights tribunal. But not the bullying and troubled being who wants their privates barbered under force of law.

Canada is a laughing stock in half the world over this cruel and transparent farce.

The thing is, no court can force a person to wax another persons genitalia, so whats the point? Nobody will ever want to go near this guy's scrotum, so whilst the 16 defendants may have to pay a hefty fine, they still DO NOT have to wax his balls. I think he should go for surgery...at least then someone will shave him and he can have his happy moment.

One more reason to hang our Canadian heads in shame. The worst part is this narcissist is likely pleased as punch with all the attention generated. It's like a South Park episode. Cartman never learns anything, does he? Of course not. He just twists the narrative around until he comes out looking " kewl " and the poor victim of a vast conspiracy led by the Jew Kyle to deny his rightful due... When will we learn that it never pays to appease a bully.

Matt and Trey, if ever a story begged to be animated by you, this has got to be it.

Charlie Horse And you thought South Park was just a harmless low brow American comedy that appealed to a benign sense of humour as opposed to being a catalyst of societal degeneration defined by the exploitation of identity and sympathy crises in a naïve and oppressed audience strategized towards validating and imitating the enlightenment proffered by this glowing example of neo-social etiquette. Man you sure are a dope Charlie.

frankchapeau I've watched more than a few episodes... and laughed. But it really is dark and afterward it makes me feel like I've eaten McDonalds. Mine was a sideward glance at Hollywood, run by a Jewish community who raise the capital to create these works and therefore impose the ideas and ideals of that community into their works to degrade and undermine western culture all while we remain oblivious to whats actually going on. Marty Leeds just did a video on Hollywood, particularly The Big Lebowski [Link] where he explains how Jewish beliefs are moulded into [this] film. It's well worth watching but if you're not already exploring the hollywood rabbit hole then the consequences are you'll think twice about watching film for entertainment. Thanks for replying Mr. Chapeau.

Just because a guy wants to be a girl doesn't mean he can be a girl because girls have two "X" chromosomes and he has one "X" chromosome and one "Y" chromosome. I hate to point this out because now I'll be called transphobic. I'm really not. I accept that some men would prefer to be a women and some women would prefer to be a man. While those that feel that way should be able to live their chosen lifestyle some have taken it a step farther. They say we must accept them as a real women or a real man. They make laws that try to force this ideology on society. They create penalties for anyone that won't "go along" and along comes Jessica and were supposed to apply common sense. Garbage in, Garbage out. This should have been expected and it certainly won't be the last issue like this.

sleepercell It's not many women who identify as male, you don't hear much from them but the vast majority of men who identify as women. I've been watching the beauty community (well, my wife has, I just tag along) and about a year ago the male dominated trans community hijacked what was once a female dominated community. Women are now copying those trans men with their makeup advice but the stupid thing is that women don't need to apply makeup like the trans men must (to mimic femininity) because their cheek bones are completely different and now the women are over applying makeup on the wrong parts of their face and now they look... well, Trans gender. I haven't even begun with the bitching and fighting that was never present before these dudes came along but my point is that the trans male community is going to do things to society in ways that we cannot yet comprehend and that cannot be undone without great pain and Jay Jay at the top there is an alarm for the shit fight that is coming around the corner.

*I don't agree with many issues that Rex Murphy espouses on, but on this issue, he is spot on

But it seems strange after the downfall of Harper who was a what one time could considered a very right wing conservative, we have now gone to the other extreme, a leader that is so left wing, it defies belief.

Both steeped in secrecy as to the real machinations of Canadian government, regarding the dirty dealings behinds the scenes, and both, in their arrogance, consider the everyday issues of Canadians as a non issue.

After all they have bigger issues to fry, being the lap dog of the US, thanks to energetically placed interested parties, that with a more politically astute and veteran politician, would have had the interest of Canada as a Nation, in front and center.